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Tuesday, August 4, 2015

First U.S.-trained Syria rebel believed killed in fighting: sources

A fighter from the Free Syrian Army's Al Rahman legion
fires his weapon on the frontline against the forces of Syria's President
Bashar al-Assad in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, Syria

July 27, 2015.

REUTERS/BASSAM KHABIEH

A member of a new Syrian force trained by the U.S.
military was believed to have been killed in clashes last week with al Qaeda's
Syria wing, in what would be the fledgling force's first battlefield casualty,
U.S. officials said on Monday.

The U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition
of anonymity to discuss the incident, said the Syrian rebel was believed to
have been killed during fighting on Friday with suspected members of Nusra
Front. One of the officials described the information as preliminary.

Friday's attack triggered the first U.S. air strikes
to support the Syrian force. At the time, the U.S. military said the fighters
repelled the attack, without citing casualties among the U.S.-trained force.

Defending the U.S.-trained fighters could become a
growing job for United States, which has been waging air strikes against
Islamic State targets in Syria.

U.S. officials disclosed to Reuters on Sunday that the
United States has decided to allow air strikes to help defend against any
attack on the U.S.-trained Syrian rebels, even if the attackers come from
forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

U.S. President Barack Obama has long sought to avoid
any direct U.S. military confrontation with Assad's forces, focusing instead on
the battle against Islamic State.

The Pentagon, State Department and White House have so
far declined to publicly detail the rules of engagement in Syria.

Still, the Obama administration appeared on Monday to
play down the chances that Assad's forces would target the U.S.-backed rebels
and noted that his military had not fired on U.S.-led coalition aircraft
bombing Islamic State targets in Syria.

"So far, we have seen the Assad regime abide by
the admonishment that we have offered to not interfere with our activities
inside of Syria," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

The U.S. military launched its program in May to train
up to 5,400 fighters a year in what was seen as a test of Obama's strategy of
getting local partners to combat extremists and keep U.S. troops off the front
lines.

The training program has been challenged from the
start, with many candidates being declared ineligible and some even dropping
out. Obama's requirement that they target militants from Islamic State has
sidelined huge segments of the Syrian opposition, which is focusing instead on
battling Syrian government forces.

Only around 60 have been deployed to the battlefield
so far.

The past week has illustrated that, in Syria's messy
civil war, Islamic State is only one of the threats to the U.S. recruits.

The suspected militants from Nusra Front attacked
U.S.-trained fighters on Friday at a compound in Syria, which was also being
used by members of a Western-aligned insurgent group, known as Division 30,
officials said.

The U.S. officials who disclosed the death of the
U.S.-trained Syrian fighter said Division 30 also suffered casualties.

The United States is also preparing to start launching
airstrikes against Islamic State from bases across the border in Turkey, after
securing a long-sought agreement with Ankara.

The Pentagon said on Monday that the U.S. military
started flying its first unmanned, armed drone missions from Turkey over the
weekend. No strikes have been carried out yet.

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At midday on Friday 5 February, 2016 Julian Assange, John Jones QC, Melinda Taylor, Jennifer Robinson and Baltasar Garzon will be speaking at a press conference at the Frontline Club on the decision made by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on the Assange case.